The Missoula city council is considering a new budget that includes hundreds of thousands of dollars more in new tax hikes, which Missoula Mayor John Engen says would pay for "organizational excellence", enhanced "economic growth and sustainability" and "infrastructure and assets."

Engen's budget recommends increases of 3.87%, totaling over $232,000 from property taxes. That works out to an additional $28 per year on a home valued at $250,000. Overall, Engen is recommending over $1.2 million in increases to the city's "baseline budget" paying for everything from street projects to "community service specialists" in the police department.

Engen says city departments actually pitched over $6-million worth of new budget requests, which would have required an 18% hike in taxes.

The city council will hold a public hearing July 17th on the budget and included tax increases.